Over 200 players that turned up for the 2025 Uganda Table Tennis Championships at Kabojja International School in Buziga on the weekend were not only fighting for medals, trophies and prize money, but also points in the national rankings which will guide national team selections.
That’s one of the major reasons even the likes of Jemimah Nakawala, Parvin Nangonzi, Patra Nasirumbi, Judith Mirembe, Patience Anyango, Joseph Sebatindira, who have made records at recent international assignments, did not have the luxury to miss the Uganda Open event.
“This is the first ever Uganda Open where players will earn points for national rankings. So it doesn’t matter whether you have played in France, or wherever, if you miss the Open, you miss the points,” said Uganda Table Tennis president Cyrus Muwanga on day one of the event.
“Without rankings, selecting a team for, say the recent Islamic Games, may require trials of around 200 players, which is quite hard. But with the rankings, we may call only the top ten for trials.”
What’s more, UTTA wants to make the Open the biggest event on the local calendar. Hence,
“We also made this tournament mandatory to all to help our exposed players to share their abilities and inspiration that even others can rise to the international standards, hence the overall growth of the sport,” Muwanga added.
About 16 clubs graced the tournament that was last played nearly 10 years ago.
Due to limited time, UTTA limited the categories to Under 13, Open, team events (men and women), veterans men and women) and doubles. But in subsequent editions, Muwanga promised more age-based categories.
After the highly competitive finals on Sunday, all players who reached the quarterfinal stage and beyond for a share of the Shs8m prize money, courtesy of partners like Lakhani Motors, Sure Pay, SchoolPay, among others.